All Things Return is the story of two young men who, though separated by twenty-five years, hundreds of miles, and the fear of certain death if found by a vengeful criminal cartel, strive to overcome almost insurmountable obstacles and reclaim the father/son relationship denied to them for so long.All Things Return is the story of two young men caught up in the mayhem created by an international criminal cartel willing to destroy an innocent man’s life for selfish gain. Howard Douglas vows to seek revenge against a member of the cartel as he goes searching for a son he never before knew existed. Terrance Butler, a young man living in Kansas while working as a newspaper reporter, has no idea that a two decades old criminal vendetta is heading his way. Learning that he has become the target of the cartel, Terrance plans his escape. Yet things are not as they seem. Terrance discovers that finding out the truth about his past requires him to face his fears, trusting that the unknown past he has sought for so long will show him the way.

"Matilda Lanai, she of the sickening fall and the miraculous, silt-spitting, quaking resurrection. It might be a sign at that. The Island girl wasn’t stupid. She knew how to work. And she had it inside her to be ruthless. Block had seen it plain as day."Epic Fantasy, Muskets & Magic. Historical fiction in a fictional world.The Trade Houses of the Miilark Islands control the shipping lanes linking four diverse continents across the blue vastness of the Interminable Ocean. The Houses are represented abroad by the Guilders; men and women skilled in business and burglary, salesmanship and swordplay, merchandising and musketry. Tilda Lanai has trained for years to take her place among them, but now the House she is to serve is imperiled by the sudden death of the House Lord. Scenting blood in the water, rival Houses begin to circle. The desperate search for an exiled heir takes Tilda across a war-torn continent and to the gates of the Sable City, where centuries ago dark magic almost destroyed the world. Along with a sinister sorceress, a broken-hearted samurai, and a miscreant mercenary long on charm but lousy with a crossbow, Tilda must brave the demon-infested ruins to find the heir who may yet save her House.

Two men, friends since childhood, turn on each other for a girl who likes them both equally. Going to great lengths for the girl, they go from friends... to enemies.How would you raise yourself?Your cloned child is a mirror, simultaneously reflecting who you are and what you might have been. It's potential was your potential. Can your clone achieve those dreams that fell to the wayside in your own life, or is it doomed to repeat your mistakes?Clones is a collection of speculative short-stories exploring the relationship dynamics between parents and their cloned children. It inspires speculation as it entertains, probing issues we will face in our lifetimes.

Scarlett Summers has had a rough few months. She just got out of Meadowbrook mental hospital for a crime she had nothing to do with—her best friend Grace’s disappearance. No matter how hard she tries she can’t get that night out of her head, at least the parts she remembers.Scarlett Summers has had a rough few months. She just got out of Meadowbrook mental hospital for a crime she had nothing to do with—her best friend Grace’s disappearance. No matter how hard she tries she can’t get that night out of her head, at least the parts she remembers. It gets worse, while she was away her mother moved in with her boyfriend and his son Skylar—whom Scarlett has never met. However, the real trouble begins when Skylar says he’s going to help her find Grace and she’s thrown into a world she didn’t even know existed.

The elder vampire Ashayt was once a simple peasant girl living in Egypt, on the outskirts of the great city of Memphis. Her life changes first when she meets a man -- Amun Sa -- with whom she falls in love, and second when she meets a deadly creature in the reeds, who bestows upon her both the gift and curse of immortality.This story is a spoiler-free excerpt from The Children of the Sun.The elder vampire Ashayt was once a simple peasant girl living in Egypt, on the outskirts of the great city of Memphis. Her life changes first when she meets a man -- Amun Sa -- with whom she falls in love, and second when she meets a deadly creature in the reeds, who bestows upon her both the gift and curse of immortality.This two-chapter story is a spoiler-free excerpt from The Children of the Sun, the upcoming conclusion to the II AM Trilogy by Christopher Buecheler.

Sarah Hughes loves old Western movies. Her favorite is Big Country with Gregory Peck. She decides to spruce up her life by vacationing at a horse and cattle ranch like Peck did. She meets cowboy Matt Garth and they help drive a herd of horses to a pasture in the wilderness. He's a country boy and she's a city girl, but there's a real spark here. Is it possible this is a new start for her?Computer consultant Sarah Hughes is desperately unhappy. Trapped between the demands of her prominent Baltimore family and a cruel boss, Sarah knows that something has got to give. After a crisis at work that sends her to the hospital -- again -- Sarah searches for an escape hatch. A vacation in rural Nevada strikes her fancy, partially because her mother was from a small town in Nevada, and partially because Sarah is hooked on old Western movies. Everything about the West is fascinating to her and she longs for a complete change in her life.Taking a chance on a horse and cattle ranch in eastern Nevada, Sarah learns riding, shooting, two-stepping and the wonders of western wildlife are just what the doctor ordered. Meeting cowboy Matt Garth is the icing on the cake and they slowly begin a relationship. He has trauma from his past and Sarah's east coast influences continue to plague her. A horse drive to a pasture in the wilderness shows them both what is possible in their lives and what is most important. But her family has always pulled the strings and kept her in line. Will Matt's influence be strong enough to help Sarah become the person she longs to be? Or will those strings pull Sarah back to the familiar, what has always been.

These six tales are filled with humor, passion, joys, sorrows and the whole gamut of human emotions that one encounters when two cultures meet. Whether you are from the Indian sub-continent or not, you will empathize with the characters. Having picked it up you will not put the book down until you have read it from cover to cover.Some Excerpts from the Book:The Celebrity:The First Class was very sparsely occupied, just two or three people in all those 20 odd seats. I spotted one face that struck my solar plexus like a ton of bricks. She was wearing Salvar-kameez and had covered a good portion of her head with the Dupatta. She pretended to be engrossed in a book, quite oblivious of the surroundings. The setting sun shone through the window on her side. She was wearing very large sunglasses that covered almost one-third of her face. Very obviously, she valued her privacy very dearly and did not want to be recognized. Even then, it struck me that she seemed very familiar, as if I might have met her some where, some time. But I just could not place a label on that face. I kept walking and came back to my seat.The sun had set after a while. The lights had been dimmed. Only some soft lights at the aisle were kept on. Some passengers had turned on their reading lights. I stood up and walked toward the First Class cabin once again, wanting to take another look at this mysterious passenger. The reading light illuminated her face partially; it was still buried in the book. Only then slowly, it all came back to me. She was Archana Roy. Yes, oh my God! It was indeed she. I had watched her on the movie screen so many times...............................................I heard a gentle knock on the intermediate door. She had seen the news on her TV as well. She was flushed pink and visibly shaken. She was in tears. She pleaded if she could come in, as she was scared and shocked beyond belief. I let her come in. We were both still in the same clothes we had been in all day. We sat on the bed resting our backs on the pillow and headboard. We were watching the breaking news, clasping our hands with horror in our eyes. I could feel that she wanted to clasp me and hold me close. But I was just too confused and emotionally broken myself to make any kind of physical response to her overtures...........................................She asked if she could leave the intermediate door open. I readily agreed. As she went into her room she turned and told me over her shoulder to give her a wake up call at 5:30, if she was not already awake.I could see that her bathroom door was also half-ajar. I could see her full image reflected on the large mirror at the sink. She was probably unaware of that or she might have purposely wanted it that way. She took her Dupatta and hung it on the peg at the opposite wall. Then she slowly removed the hooks on the back of her Kameez one by one and slowly slid it over her head. Turned around and hung that also on the peg....................................... One by one everything came off and she disrobed completely. Her ivory complexion and smooth skin made her look like Neptune under moonlight.She pulled out a brush from her handbag, stroked her dark brown hair a few times. She took out an elastic band and bound her hair into a ponytail. Then she splashed her face with cold running water. Rubbed some soap all over to remove the makeup. She rinsed her face finally and covered it with fresh laundered hand towel from the rack. Her clean spotless natural skin without any makeup shone looking even prettier. Then she pulled out a brown paper package from the handbag and removed a T-shirt. She pulled it over her head and let it fall all the way down to her ankles. It was a top-to-toe large T-shirt with "Welcome to Arkansas" written on the back with a picture of a sunrise behind Ozark Mountains in the front. Obviously this was the piece of article that had started the whole rigmarole that evening. Or should I say it was the cause of our survival today. I heard her switch off the light and get into her bed...........................................

Naomi dream is shattered by the tragic death of Baby G. Forced to change directions by the loss of her job and untimely breakdown of her mother, Naomi turns to her estranged sister Jill and her childhood friend Mantel for solace. What is revealed over the next few months is a family torn apart by secrets and betrayal.Politicians have marketed their election campaign strategy on change. Tony Blair's Labour party had won the election on the slogan, “Things can only get better.” Hussein Obama became the first black American president of United States of America on the mandate of social change. Here, Change is viewed as both an equally good and bad thing it really depends upon the outcome. We are talking about big changes in our lives such as early retirement, redundancy, bereavement, divorce and health problems. These life changing events will challenge us to the inner core of our existence. They can make or break us. It will depend upon how we react to Change. In the context of my book Naomi's life is shattered due to the tragic death of a child on her watch. As a consequence she is reduced to a life of poverty and depression. But all is not lost through the support and help of her friends, family and her renewed faith in God.Naomi begins to get her life back on track.

Despite the odds stacked up against them, the Remnants seem to be surviving in the Rock's harsh environment while living peacefully with the inhabitants, but this new world still has its set of problems that Billy cannot handle.

A romance between a castle servant girl in the 1430s and the page of a visiting bishop falls foul of social conventions, while one in the family of present-day occupants is imperilled by misunderstandings. Both are linked by a portrait of the girl that has somehow survived the intervening centuries and seems connected with the resolution of both difficulties.John Randall brings his friend Anne to visit his parents’ home, the small castle of Ernscar in northern England. Anne is fascinated by a mediaeval portrait in her room, believed to represent Alison Miller, daughter of the castle Fool in the fifteenth century, and on subsequent visits sees in it signs of anxiety reflecting Anne’s own concerns about the direction of her relationship with John.In the 1430s Alison forms an attachment to Nicholas, page to the then Lord Robert Ernscar’s friend Bishop Justin, who visits occasionally for conferences about their response to political problems under Henry VI. Justin and Robert are kindly disposed towards the couple, but like Alison’s own family recognise that the difference in social status seems to preclude their union. However, a scheme to resolve a particular problem of Justin’s requires that Nicholas be quickly married, and the difficulties are overcome by formal adoption of the youngsters into their respective patrons’ families.During a sleepless night Anne, worrying about the lack of the progress with John that she had been reluctant to urge on him for fear of rejection, resolves to force the issue one way or the other the next day. He then admits having been in exactly the same quandary which is thus resolved. After purchasing an engagement ring they visit an early church of architectural interest where they find records suggesting a happy outcome for the marriage of Alison and Nicholas.

Lucius Grenville at last persuades Captain Lacey to join him in an expedition to Egypt, to visit various ancient sites. Lacey is excited to go, though torn about leaving his new family. He discovers, though, that the burgeoning market for antiquities has made Egypt’s ancient history open for plunder, bringing forth ruthless men who will not stop short of murder for the sake of a fortune.

Lutha Talstaff is sent to the remote, unpopulated planet Dinadh with her young son and her lover, and soon realizes they are part of a cosmic pattern that will alter their understanding of life, love, good, and evil.

Captain Lacey takes Lady Breckenridge to his boyhood home in Norfolk and finds himself embroiled in intrigue from the past.

Colin MacIntyre, a NASA astronaut kidnapped by a starship impersonating Earth's moon, has just suppressed a fifty-thousand-year-old mutiny, but now he faces an even bigger challenge. By the author of Mutineers' Moon. Reissue.

A young artist pursues a search for knowledge through the treatment of homosexuality and the collapse of morality in middle class France.

Third episode in the Tales of the Quantum Corps. Major John Winger leads his troopers against a Red Hammer cartel with access to the archives of an extraterrestrial race. They've diverted an asteroid intended to modify Mars...diverted it toward Earth. Time is running out fast and Winger must lead his troops, human and nanobot, across the globe and the solar system to stop the Big Smack in time.Mars is being terraformed. A revived Red Hammer cartel has access to the archives of an extraterrestrial race. They’ve managed to divert an asteroid intended for Mars toward Earth…and they’ve issued an ultimatum. Looks like Quantum Corps has its hands full again. Major Johnny Winger leads his beleaguered nanotroopers into combat, on battlefields across the globe and the solar system, and inside the world of atoms and molecules. Third episode in the Tales of the Quantum Corps.

Two experiences weave together to reveal an unspoken truth, a story never told. A teenager journeys to the site of an unfathomable atrocity, with a survivor in tow. Sixty years earlier, a small village comes together in the face of danger, to solidify an act of pure love. An Unspoken Truth reminds us of the human cost of war and its far reaching affects on future generations.Susie Meyers was one of the most beautiful women you ever laid eyes on. She had long wavy blonde hair and a smile that would melt any man's heart. The story begins at around midnight on October 31, 1953 Susie and her friends downed too many beers at a Halloween party. Then decided to pile into her friend Tommy's car with his friends Jack and Karen with their six packs of beer and drove down Hill Haven road. Just as they were all singing along with the radio, rain came pouring down and Tommy was having a hard time concentrating on the road because of the loud music and laughter coming from Susie and Karen in the back seat of Tommy's car. Jack was too busy handing out the beers to everyone to notice danger was on the way. Susie was the only one in the car not wearing her seat belt. The rain was really pouring down to where Tommy should have pulled off to the shoulder of the road and waited for the rain to stop before proceeding any further. Tommy just kept driving at a high rate of speed and drinking his beer when all of a sudden a driver on the other side of the road lost control of his vehicle causing Tommy's car to skid off the road and hit a tree head on. Unfortunately, Susie was the only passenger in the car that was not wearing a seat belt. Susie was ejected from the car and hit the tree head on decapitating her.

Qwantu Amaru's second poetry chapbook chronicles his search for love and the aftermath and learnings from this neverending search. For all the romance lovers out there, this FREE chapbook is for you!Qwantu Amaru, novelist, poet, and spoken word artist offers up this poetic treatise on the love battles he's waged, lost, and won in his search for love. From the beautiful opening poem Moonlight to the final statement Better to Have Loved and Lost, take the voyage with this unflinchingly honest poet. Lovelost just like his first chapbook, After the Storm is a FREE offering from this up and coming writer.

Life is tough for Jay Webber. His friends are distant and his Mum is ill in hospital.To make matters worse Jay believes there is something under his bed. Ultimately, Jay's 'special powers' will lead him to a different era, an era scarred by six years of war. And there is one last battle left to fight. A battle preventing an evil thought buried in the rubble of 1945 breaking into the 21st Century.A teenage boy, Jay Webber, believes there is something ‘under’ his bed. Jay lives with his dad because his mum is in hospital. Mum has cancer. Jay tries to convince his dad that there are noises and voices coming from under his bed but his dad doesn’t believe him. The story opens with Jay telling his dad that he heard someone asking for help. One night Jay is visited by the ghost of a little girl in what seems like another dream. She asks him to help her find her brother with his ‘special powers’.On Dad’s insistence, Jay tells his doctor about the dreams and voices. Here we meet the villain, Dr Meen. Both Lizzie and Dr Meen have one thing in common – they are keenly aware of Jay’s ‘special powers’.Special powers? This is a new one on Jay. Nevertheless, on insistence from ‘Lizzie’, one night Jay follows his new friend down a long forgotten flight of stairs and a strange relationship with the people who inhabit the age of our grandparents begins where the ghost of the man in Jay’s dreams tells him of his life, his changing world, stories from the first war and of his son lost in the second.His newly discovered ‘special powers’ aid Lizzie’s dad in a quest to find his missing son. However, whilst discovering the hardships of life after the war, these powers also uncover a plot to rekindle an evil thought buried in the rubble of Nazi Germany and now threatening to rewrite history and an evil that Jay and Lizzie have no choice but to try and overcome.

10-Year-old Andy, along with a few others his age, have magical gifts no one can explain. But when someone bombs his school and kidnaps him, he soon learns that the reason for all of this is his unusual gift. There are other gifted kids that have appeared in recent days and now there is a heated war between two sides to see who will have control over The Gifted.10-Year-old Andy, along with a few others his age, have magical gifts no one can explain. But when someone bombs his school and kidnaps him, he soon learns that the reason for all of this is his unusual gift. There are other gifted kids that have appeared in recent days and now there is a heated war between two sides to see who will have control over The Gifted. Now Andy, Han, Tracy, and Guido have been sent on a mission to a small island to investigate what has happened to the other kidnapped children. This leads them into a world of magic and machines, and finally to the secret mission of this island training facility. In the end, it's not what's on the island that is the most dangerous, but what's underneath it!

Reluctant hero Hagan Marindel is called on to fulfill his oath, to return to battle if the land needed him. Gorin, the Stone Troll, had been sent to retrieve him and make him honor his word. Elfwhere is burning and the Rot is infecting people at random. With the servants of Mournenhile swarming across the land, can Hagan and his companions reach the city of Mages in time?.Twelve years ago, The Battle of the Black Sun had left Hagan scarred inside. The scent of blood and the incessant ring of steel were etched in his mind. Though his sword had turned the tides, he had sworn off war and become a recluse, retiring to the hills above his hometown of Lauden and turning to drink. He had hoped to be forgotten. The world would not let him forget the oath that he had sworn in his youth, however, and an honorable Stone Troll named Gorin was sent to convince Hagan to honor it. Councilcrane, the ruling body of mages, had summoned him to the city of Harquinn and Hagan knew that the threat of war from across The Edge must have returned.Gorin brought ill tidings. Autumn had never come to Elfwhere, but the leaves had begun to fall, foretelling the return of the dark lord Mournenhile, thought destroyed all those years ago. Like an ungodly pairing of bat and wolf, Mournenhile's army of Pith have swarmed into the Elven forest bent on their utter destruction.Reluctantly, Hagan must once more step into the horrors of war and offer his blade to the cause. Joined by his inexperienced younger brother, D'Pharin and a small group of new companions (Vasparian, an Elf that served with Hagan under the Black Sun, Windenn, the Woodwarden and Shindire, the haughty Elf from across The Sleeping Sea) he sets off for the ancient city of Harquinn with a heavy heart.What will the mages ask of him this time? Memories of atrocities committed in the name of Harquinn flooded back into his mind.Can he become the hero that he once was, redeeming himself and driving back the horrific creatures within the armies of Mournenhile?